Timing is everything, in parenthood as in the AFL.
Sydney veteran Jarrad McVeigh has enjoyed the ideal start to a big week, with his wife Clementine giving birth to their third daughter Florence.
McVeigh reports that everyone is doing well and they made sure Florence arrived early in the week, well before Friday night's MCG semi-final against Geelong.
"It came on Tuesday, so I was always going (to play)," McVeigh said.
"We tried to put a few things in place -- she was actually due next Monday.
"We kind of sped things up a little bit."
Friday night will be his 300th game, continuing a remarkable turnaround for McVeigh's season.
Again, the 32-year-old has timed his run perfectly.
Injury meant McVeigh only managed two games until round 14, but the former Swans captain has played every game since.
He has also signed a one-year contract extension, killing off speculation about his future.
Once McVeigh retires, he will stay at the Swans in a coaching role.
He is the fourth Swan to reach 300, after former teammates Adam Goodes, Jude Bolton and Michael O'Loughlin, and feels indebted to the club.
"It means the world. To come out of school and be drafted and get to stay home, first and foremost, was fantastic," he said of playing his whole career at Sydney.
"I looked at the best trainers and the best players and just lived in their pockets the whole time.
"Paul Williams, Stuart Maxfield, Kirky, Goodsey and Barry Hall. I owe a lot of that to those guys.
"I owe a lot of it to those guys, for teaching me the right way, and hopefully I'm doing that for a lot of the young players now.
"Other than my family, they've taught me everything I know."
But McVeigh has also been through a lot, especially with his family.
Their first child, Luella, died only four weeks after she was born in 2011.
The next year, Clementine gave birth to Lolita-Luella and McVeigh famously cradled their baby in his arms on the MCG after Sydney won the premiership.
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